PART X.--THE UNITED STATES AND THE BELLIGERENTS

LVII. War Cloud in Congress 433

LVIII. The President Upheld in Armed-Merchantmen Issue--Final Crisis With Germany 439

LIX. The American Ultimatum--Germany Yields 449

TWO YEARS OF THE WAR. _By Frank H. Simonds_

The German Problem 461 The Belgian Phase 463 The French Offensive 466 The Battle of the Marne 469 The End of the First Western Campaign 472 The Russian Phase 476 Tannenberg and Lemberg 476 Warsaw and Lodz 479 The Galician Campaign 480 The Battle of the Dunajec 481 Russia Survives 484 The Balkan Campaign 484 In the West 487 Italy 488 Verdun 488 The February Attack 490 Later Phases 491 Gettysburg 493 The Austrian Offensive 494 Germany Loses the Offensive 495 The Russian Attack 496 The Battle of the Somme 499 Gorizia 499 As the Third Year Begins 501

THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF THE WAR, STATEMENTS FROM THE BRITISH, FRENCH, AND GERMAN AMBASSADORS TO THE UNITED STATES 503

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Jutland _Frontispiece_

Opposite Page

Queen Mary, British Battle Cruiser 78

Earl Kitchener 110

Austrian 30.5-Centimeter Gun 158

Austrian Intrenchment High on a Mountain 238

German Crown Prince Giving Crosses for Valor 350

French Aviation Camp Near Verdun 366

U-C-5, German Mine-Laying Submarine 446

Motor-Mounted French 75's 494

LIST OF MAPS

Page Expansion of the War--Dates on Which Declarations of War Were Made (_Colored Map_) _Front Insert_

Battle of Jutland Bank, the

Plate I--Distribution of Forces 74

Plate II--Running Fight to the Southward 77

Plate III--Running Fight to the Northward 79

Plate IV--British Grand Fleet Approaching from Northwest 81

Plate V--British Grand Fleet Coming into Action 83

Plate VI--Jellicoe and Beatty Acting Together to "Cap" German Fleet 85

Plate VII--Jellicoe and Beatty Pass Around the German Flank, "Capping" It 86

Plate VIII--British Forces Heading Off to Southward to Avoid Attack During Darkness 88

Plate IX--Movement of Forces 103

Plate X--Movement of Jellicoe's Forces on May 31 105

Plate XI--What Von Scheer Should Have Done 106

Eastern Battle Front, August, 1916 119

Russian Offensive from Pinsk To Dubno, The 157

Russian Offensive in Galicia, The 175

Italian Front, The 241

Austrian Offensive, May, 1916, Detail of 263

Gorizia 272

Kut-el-Amara 322

Russians in Persia, The 333

Russians in Armenia, The 338

Western Battle Front, August, 1916 343

Four Zone Maps (_colored_) _Opposite_ 344

Verdun, First Attack on 346

Verdun, Northeast District in Detail 352

Verdun, Northwest District in Detail 356

Mort Homme Sector in Detail 364

Verdun to St. Mihiel 366

Verdun Gain up to August, 1916 369

Sector Where Grand Offensive was Started 379

English Gains, The 394

French Gains, The 406

Two Years of the War

August 18, 1914, When the Belgian Retreat to Antwerp Began 465

August 23, 1914, After the Allies Had Lost All the First Battles 467

September 6, 1914, the Battle of the Marne 471

September 20, 1914, the Deadlock 473

November 15, 1914, the End of the Western Campaign 475

October 24, 1914, the Battle of the Vistula 478

October 1, 1915, at the End of the Russian Retreat 483

The Conquest of Serbia, December, 1915 485

The Russian Spring Offensive, 1916 497

Austro-Italian Campaigns, May to September, 1916 500